Hyd: WATER raises USD 2.5 million to develop AI-powered adaptive surfaces
Hyderabad, Aug 24 (TNT): WATER, a Hyderabad-based Physical AI company developing adaptive intelligent surfaces, has raised USD 2.5 million in a funding round led by early-stage venture capital firm Endiya Partners, the company said on Monday.
The company is developing FLOW, an adaptive chair, and CAMA, an adaptive bed, powered by a common foundational model called VORTEX, which is designed to sense, understand and respond to the human body in real time.
FLOW focuses on posture, movement and load during seated interaction, while CAMA focuses on sleep, recovery and respiration. The company said the products are aimed at delivering measurable physiological benefits beyond comfort.
WATER said its technology combines sensing, decision-making and closed-loop physical actuation across multiple surfaces through a common underlying model.
It said most connected furniture and sleep-tracking products primarily focus on sensing or provide limited physical response.
The funding round also saw participation from Pullela Gopichand, Chief National Badminton Coach of India, Rohit Chennamaneni, Co-Founder of Darwinbox, and Nandan Reddy, Co-Founder of Swiggy, besides other angel investors.
WATER founder and CEO Teja Vinukollu said the company was developing a “Bio Physical Intelligence” layer that would enable surfaces to understand and respond to the needs of the human body.
The company’s longer-term vision is to extend the technology beyond individual products to adaptive environments, where seating, sleep surfaces and other physical systems respond dynamically to users.
Endiya Partners Managing Partner Sateesh Andra said the company’s technology represented an attempt to develop a foundational model for understanding how the human body interacts with physical surfaces.
WATER said it has developed a near-production-ready adaptive sleep system that was showcased at CES. A foundational patent filing underpins the company’s approach to safety, which it said was a key design principle for systems designed to physically interact with the human body.
The latest funding will support further technical validation, including testing the transferability of the VORTEX model across products and users, the company said.
The company said its technology could eventually find applications in sectors including automotive and aviation.
TNT KS
